Method of making panel with relief design



nited bites 3,102,564 Patented Sept. 3, 1&63

This invention relates to the art of panel manufacture and particularly to improved panels and method of manufacturing them with embossed and debossed portions.

A wooden panel with either a raised or depressed pattern has always been an indicator of superior quality in construction and design of wall paneling and furniture. Recently, such a design has been extended to use in the design of kitchen cabinets.

One method for manufacture of such a raised panel is to superimpose and apply a smaller area central portion to a larger area base portion so that the edges of the base portion extend beyond the edges of the central portion. This method is expensive because it requires two separate panel pieces and they are oftentimes difficult to match in their grain appearance. Further, the elevation of the raised portion is usually desired to be less than the thickness of the base portion so that different thicknesses of paneling must be employed. This same general method can be employed for the manufacture of panels of either raised or recessed design by providing a large frame member with a central cutout and with a member superimposed on it to cover the cutout area. As viewed from one side of the panel, the panel appears to be recessed, and as viewed from its other side, the panel appears to be raised.- The disadvantages of this method are substantially the same as for the first; the elevation of the raised or depressed portion is usually different from the thickness of the base portion so that different thicknesses of paneling must be employed. Further, the central cutout portion is waste and must be discarded unless a substitute use can be found for it. Since two different pieces of wood are required, grain matching is also difficult. These disadvantages maximize the cost involved to produce such panels.

Although wood is popular in doors for kitchen cabinets, where raised or depressed door designs have been employed for such use, they are so relatively expensive for the reasons given that they do not compete well with the plain type of door. In fact, the cost of producing such a patterned door has ordinarily made the selling price prohibitive to use to any substantial extent.

It is the object of this invention to provide an improved panel and method of manufacturing it whereby it can be made relatively inexpensive and thereby enable its use for kitchen cabinet doors, among other things, on a competitive basis.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved panel design and method for its manufacture whereby the grain pattern of the recessed or raised portion matches that of its base member. This is accomplished by using a single base piece of wood and cutting out a central portion of the piece in a novel manner to remove it from the base piece and then trimming edges of both the central portion and the basepiece and re-asse-mbling them in a novel manner. By the use of the central cutout portion as part of the final assembled panel, it is possible to match grain and to effect a large economy because the central cutout portion does not have to be discarded as with prior techniques.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved panel and method for its manufacture whereby the raised or debossed portion of the panel can be raised or lowered to Whatever height or depth may be required to provide the desired aesthetic appearance and still permit the use of only a single initial piece of wood for the purpose of matching grain.

Other objects and advantages of the invention should become apparent upon reference to the accompanying drawings, in which FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a panel made according to the invention and particularly shows the panel surface having a raised central portion;

PK 2 is a perspective view showing the: opposite surface of the panel shown in FIG. 1, which surface has a recessed central portion;

FIG. 3 shows an end view of a piece of material initially provided for the manufacture of a relief type panel;

FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of the panel of FIG. 3 with a central cutout portion removed;

FIG. 5 shows the same cross-section as in FIG. 4 except that the edges of both the cutout portion and the remaining frame portion are contoured;

FIG. 6 shows the same cross'section as FIGS. 4 and 5 except that the contoured central cutout is assembled back onto the frame portion to complete the panel; and

FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 show three sequential steps in producing a panel similar to that of FIG. 6, except by a slight ly modified method.

A finished form of panel P is shown in H88. 1 and 2. It consists of a frame member 1 secured to a central portion Z whichis shown raised in FIG. 1 and depressed in FIG. 2 since FIG. 2 shows the opposite surface to that shown in PEG. 1. It is apparent that this panel P can be used to present either a raised or depressed central pattern depending upon which of its surfaces is exposed to view. This means that the same technique of menu facture can be used for obtaining either raised or depressed patterned panels because they are one and the same. i

One method of manufacturing the panel is shown in FIGS. 3 to 6. Initially, a single piece 3 of plywood or other suitable material is. supplied which is cut to the appropriate peripheral dimensions of the proposed finished panel. Next, suitable routing or cutting means is used in the regions 4 in order to cut out the central panel portion 2 from the remaining frame portion 1 of the panel 3. The cutin the region 4 is diagonally to the faces ofthe piece '3 as clearly shown in FIG. 4. This leaves a sloped inside peripheral edge 5 on the frame portion 1 and a sloped outside peripheral edge 6 on the central portion 2 which makes both edges 5 and 6 convengent-divergent. During the cutting operation, a certain amount of material is cut away, but it is important that the amount of material cut away in the regions 4 be small enough that the dimension between the corners 7 of the frame portion be less than the dimension between corners 8 of the cutout portion. The reason for this is so that the cutout portion 2 cannot be pushed bodily through the opening 9 centrally of the frame portion 1 from where cutout portion 2 has been removed.

After the step shown in FIG. 4 has been completed, if a special contour is required on the edges of both the frame portion 1 and the cutout portion 2 for artistic ef fect, certain portions are removed from the edges to create an effect similar to that shown in FIG. 5, or different as desired. Only enough material is removed from the edges 5 and 6 to produce the effect required, but edge portions 10 and 15. to be subsequently mated must be left remaining and they should preferably have the same angularity. Upon completing the step of FIG. 5, the cutout portion 2 is moved back into the opening 9 until the edges 10 and 11 mate with each other. By properly controlling the amount of edge trim While contouring, it is possible to contnol the length of contact between the mating edge portions 10 and 11, and this in turn makes it possible to control the depth of the dimension 12 for establishing the height or depth of the relief portion. It should be apparent that almost any desired dimension 12 can be arrived at.

Because the edges and 11 are sloped, this provides more assurance that there will be a mating of these surfaces than if they were cut parallel to the edges of the panel. If they would he cut perpendicular to the faces of the panel, the allowable manufacturing tolerances would be much more restrictive, In order to insure that the cutout portion 2 will remain in position with respect to the frame portion 1 as shown in FIG. 6,.before mating the surfaces 10 and 11, they can be coated with glue or suitable adhesive.

Even though more care is required, FIGS. 7, 8 and 9 show how the panel can be manufactured when the cuts are made perpendicular to the faces of the panel. In this case, as shown in FIG. 7, cuts are made in the basic panel piece 3 from both sides of it in regions 13 and 14. The depths of cuts in these regions 13 and 14 can be equal, but do not have to the. Also, it is essential that the dimension between surfaces 15 of the cutout portion 2 be substantially equal to the dimension between the surfaces 16 of the frame portion 1 and this is where care must be exercised. After the cuts are made, the central portion 2 is pushed out from the frame portion 1 as shown in FIG. 8 and appropriate contouring of the cutout and frame portions 1 and 2 is made. Then, the cutout portion 2 is positioned through the cutout space 9 of the [frame member 1 until it assumes the position approximately as shown in FIG. 9. In that condition, the edge surfaces 15 and 16 abut each other. Before moving to this position, the edges 15 and 16 can be provided with glue or suitaiblle adhesive in lOIdSI' to maintain cutout portion 2 in proper position with respect to the frame portion 1.

It should be apparent that two methods have been shown and described for producing a panel P like that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. The advantages of both methods of manufacture are that only a single piece of wood or other material is required for each panel so that the grain of the central cutout portion is insuredof matching the grain of the frame portion, there is no wasted icutout portion, and the amount of elevation or depression of the relief portion of the panel can be controlled to whatever dimension is desired.

Although only two methods of panel manufacture have been shown and described, it should be understood that other variations and modifications of the methods are possible without departing from the true scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Iclaim:

1. The method of producing a relief design on a panel comprising, providing a panel of material having a front face and a rear face, cutting through the panel to cut out a central portion from the panel to leave a frame portion remaining, the cutting being performed through the panel from both of its faces toward each other to provide two parallel cuts extending into the panel to a depth at least to meet each other and laterally offset out of direct alignment with each other to cause a side wall of one of the cuts to be in alignment with the laterally opposite side wall of the other cut, then replacing the cut out central 4 portion within the frame portion with their alignedside walls abutting each other and with one face of the cut out central portion extending beyond the corresponding face of the frame portion.

2. The method of producing a relief design on a panel comprising, providing a panel of material having a front face and a rear face, cutting through the panel to cut out a central portion from the panel to leave a frame portion remaining, the cutting being performed through the panel from both of its faces toward each other at right angles to said faces of the panel to provide two parallel cuts extending into the panel to a depth at least to meet each other and laterally offset out of direct alignment with each other to cause a side wall of one of the cuts to be in alignment with the laterally opposite side Wall of the other cut, then replacing the cut out central portion within the frame portion with their aligned side walls abutting each other and with one face of the cut out central portion extending beyond the corresponding face of the frame portion. v

3. The method of producing a relief design on a panel comprising, providing a panel of material having a front face and a rear face, cutting through the panel to cut out a central portion from the panel to leave a frame portion remaining, the cutting being performed through the panel from both of its faces toward each other to provide two parallel cuts extending into the panel to a depth at least to meet each other and laterally offset out of direct alignment with each other to cause a side wall of one of the cuts to be in alignment with the laterally opposite sidewall of the other cut, contouring the newly cut edges of at least one of the central and frame portions, then replacing the central portion within the frame portion with their aligned side walls abutting each other and with one face of the central portion extending beyond the corresponding face of the frame portion.

4. The method of producing a relief design on a panel comprising, providing a panel of material having a front face and a rear face, cutting through the panel to cut out a central portion from the panel to leave a frame portion remaining, the cutting being performed through the panel from both of its faces toward each other to provide two parallel cuts extending into the panel to a depth at least to meet each other and laterally offset out of direct alignment with each other to cause a side wall of one of the cuts to be in alignment with the laterally 0pposite side wall of the other out, applying adhesive to the newly cut edges of the central portion and the frame portion, then replacing the cut out central portion within the frame portion with the aligned side walls of the cuts abutting each other and with one face of the cut out central portion extending beyond the corresponding face of the frame portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 210,229 White Nov. 26, 1878 1,950,087 Lind Mar. 6, 1934 2,520,116 Christenson Aug. 29, 1950 2,553,377 Loventhal May 15, 1951 

1. THE METHOD OF PRODUCING A RELIEF DESIGN ON A PANEL COMPRISING, PROVIDING A PANEL OF MATERIAL HAVING A FRONT FACE AND A REAR FACE, CUTTING THROUGH THE PANEL TO CUT OUT S A CENTRAL PORTION FROM THE PANEL TO LEAVE A FRAME PORTION REMAINING, THE CUTTING BEING PERFORMED THROUGH THE PANEL FROM BOTH OF ITS FACES TOWARD EACH OTHER TO PROVIDE TWO PARALLEL CUTS EXTENDING INTO THE PANEL TO A DEPTH AT LEAST TO MEET EACH OTHER AND LATERALLY OFFSET OUT OF DIRECT ALIGNMENT WITH EACH OTHER TO CAUSE A SIDE WALL OF ONE OF THE CUTS TO BE IN ALIGNMENT WITH THE LATERALLY OPPOSITE SIDE WALL OF THE OTHER CUT, THEN REPLACING THE CUT OUT CENTRAL PORTION WITHIN THE FRAME PORTION WITH THEIR ALIGNED SIDE WALLS ABUTTING EACH OTHER AND WITH ONE FACE OF THE CUT OUT CENTRAL PORTION EXTENDING BEYOND THE CORRESPONDING FACE OF THE FRAME PORTION. 